Singaporeans love dogs. Dogs are man’s best friend but when they bark excessively, they will become our neighbour’s enemy. Yes, dogs bark and it is in their nature to bark but if it is excessive, everyone around us will suggest that we evict our dog. We do not want that so before worse things happen, we have to curb our dog’s excessive barking.

Barking is a communication tool for our dogs and though it sometimes annoys everyone around, they only mean well. For example, dogs bark to protect their territory (our house), raise an alarm or they want to play. There are dogs who bark to show or voice out their separation anxiety.

To curb our dog’s excessive barking, we have to identity where they are coming from. If we know what sets them off, then we can work from there. Before starting, we have to understand that getting our dog to bark less will definitely take time, practice, work, consistency and of course, patience. Disciplining them will not happen overnight. We have to employ different techniques and we do not need to rely on experts. We only need to research and keep track on their progress.

We can start from the basic like:

Speak calmly: When dogs bark and we keep shouting at them, they will think that we are joining them. Dogs will be stimulated and they will never stop barking until they are too tired. The first thing that we have to do is to speak calmly and slowly. Yelling will not make a difference.

Train dogs to understand “quiet”: We are no Cesar Milan but we can train our dog to understand quiet. When training, we have to say “quiet” in a calm but firm voice. We have to wait for him to stop barking and then praise him by giving treat. If this won’t work, we can alternatively train him to “speak” when he is asked to.

Tire him: Just like people, dogs get tired and when they are tired, they are usually quiet. So, before we leave him alone and let our neighbours endure his barking, we have to tire hum. We can for instance take him to a long run or walk and play with him.

Do not allow for the excessive barking to go on: If the behaviour continues, it becomes a habit and we all know how hard it is to break it. Dogs are like this. If we allow his excessive barking to continue, we will have more problems curbing it.

Hopefully some of the tricks mentioned above can help us disciplining our dog.